TITLE:
The Americanization of Aspern in Henry James’s The Aspern Papers
AUTHORS:
Luqi Li
KEYWORDS:
Henry James, The Aspern Papers, Jeffrey Aspern, Americanization
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.14 No.8,
August
21,
2026
ABSTRACT: This paper examines the Americanization of Jeffrey Aspern in Henry James’s The Aspern Papers, with particular attention to James’s creative vision of this fictional poet in the 1908 preface. Through a close reading of the novella and the preface, this paper examines Aspern’s Americanization from the perspectives of his literary origins, character construction, and cultural significance. The study argues that Aspern is a carefully constructed literary figure shaped within the American historical context. It further suggests that Aspern’s Americanization reflects James’s engagement with literary traditions and American literary re-imagination.